Hmmmm, so you want to ski and surf the Himalayas?! There have, indeed, been many "serious" expeditions attempting to climb and ski in the Himalayas. Most of these have been very well-organized conquests such as the exploits of famous ski mountaineers like Swiss "skieur d'impossible," Sylvain Saudan on Pakistan's Hidden Peak, or Frenchman Pierre Tardivel's descent of Mount Everest. I was part of one such grandiose expedition last year, but that's another story, so let's get on with the real tale here. Our adventure is one of a makeshift, rag-tag expedition, put together in a charming Katmandu bar called Melrose Place.
The Himalayas of Nepal are truly very large and imposing mountains. Their peaks tower, almost menacingly, high above the deep, tropical valleys. Those eternal snows, when first looked upon by us, really did seem so distant and unapproachable. The mountains project themselves as unattainable, and at first glance seem far away, way down on the valley bottoms.
The Andes too, had seemed like such impenetrable fortresses, yet I've spent numerous years climbing and skiing in Peru. There, the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, however, is already at an elevation between ten and thirteen thousand feet. There is road access fairly close to the high Cordilleras themselves. Here in Nepal, everything is above timberline where trails to base camp can be accessed by gear toting burros (donkeys). Whereas in Peru, one can be at a base camp, ready to acclimatize, within a day's journey of a major town such as Huaraz.
What makes the Himalayas different from the Andes is their higher elevations, more rugged and serrated approaches and the initial, lengthy march in from the nearest point of arrival. In Nepal, it is a minimum 4-5 day trek just to get to the base of these giants. Often 4-5 days means a dirtbag traveler must prepare to spend around $300US on a local return flight. The areas I wish to discuss are such points of departure accessed by local Nepalese airlines. One is Jomson in the Annapurna region. The other being Lukla, a town in the Khumbu or Everest area. In general, the Himalayas simply demand more time from the visitor if he or she wishes to shred their sacred slopes.
Time has always been an advantage of the seasoned traveler. Since our breed of visitors are usually not as stressed out as the anxed-out, bigger, sponsored expeditions, "tiiiiime is on our side" (as the Rolling Stones would put it). Creatures like us "dirtbag travelers" can really make the best of skiing the Himalayas, if we simply take the time to do it. While regular expeditions are driven by timelines, sponsors deadlines, permit expiration dates and priorities waiting back home, time is a different element for the dirtbag. This kind of traveler usually spends most resources just getting to the exotic location of his or her choice. From here on, life is all good. Food and local transport are dirt cheap in Nepal, just as they are in Peru. Just add another ten days to the trekking time in Nepal. Instead of flying into Lukla or Jomson, you can take the bus as far as it will go. Then, just start haggling about the best price to rent local porters at the nearest village. These run only about $3-$4 a day. Yaks are more expensive. They can carry more gear, yet are more troublesome. The price of a yak is about as much as that of two porters. In addition, the local porters will act as your guides and often double up as excellent cooks. On our trip, we scouted out the Annapurna region very well, however did all our skiing in the Khumbu National Park.
Another alternative is to arrange everything including your porters in Katmandu. Usually this will cost more and your guys will not compare anywhere near in strength to the mountain locals. I always believe that the best way to go is to always truly work with the real indigenous community. As far as food goes, do most of your shopping in Katmandu as the price goes up drastically and proportionally to carrying time from the nearest road. There are of course local specialty items such as dried apples available in towns such as Jomson where they are already packaged and sold, dirt-cheap and almost everywhere.
The monsoon or rainy season is in full swing in the Khumbu region from June until late September. The best trekking months in Nepal are October and November. However, all is not lost if you arrive in late July. During that time of year the monsoon rains are not that common in the drier area around the Annapurnas. This is a good time to explore and do some snowboarding or skiing in the Thorong Pass Area or venture into the more technical terrain in the Annapurna Massif itself.
You can fly as we did to Jomson or take the bumpy bus ride to Pukhara, then continue on until you reach the end of the road. Then, it's another four-day trek to Jomson. This town is at 9000ft. Here one finds the needed porters, horses and/or yaks. Within two days of trekking, you can be in Muktinath, where you should stop and acclimatize at 12,000ft. Acclimatization is a crucial need, a link which must not be neglected. The longer you acclimatize, the better chances you will have on the mountain. Although I have been at altitude without problems before, it took me three weeks before my body operated at an optimal pace. I do live at sea level being from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Once you are in Muktinath, stay a while. It's a wonderful village of what seems only a thousand or so people. Folklore actually says that once you are in Mukinath, you must come back again. Around it are great hills to climb while getting used to the altitude. There exists a wonderful joint Buddhist/Hindu Monastery. This place really exemplifies the harmony which is ever present in Nepal. Just try to imagine the Baptists and Pentecostals per say sharing the same church in North American culture. Nepal is a land of tolerance and good will. The Nepalese nature is to present good will first, then wait but not necessarily expect reciprocation. This monastery was just another example of that wonderful ideology. On clear days there are fabulous views of Dhaulgiri, an impressive 8,000m or near 27,000ft peak. There are also wonders like the Bob Marley Restaurant (Oh, and don't miss the Jimi Hendrix café in Jomson) which caters to our kind of clientele.
Guesthouses abound everywhere in Nepal along trekking routes for as low as a dollar fifty a night. Some may be closed during off season, so if you travel, bring along a tent. For longer stays, the hotels are used to working out deals with freaks wishing to pitch their tents on the premises. From here, it is a fairly long and harrowing four-thousand vertical foot climb up to the near 18,000ft Thorong Pass and the easiest approachable glaciers. These are small, not heavily-crevassed snowfields, good for a couple hundred turns with easy access and without the need of full on, expedition gear.
I might add that the best part of skiing or boarding the Himalayas of Nepal, is probably not the experience itself but the adventure and richness of getting there. There are notable descents, which I hungrily eyed in the Annapurna Range, but those lines most certainly demanded extensive mountaineering experience. I definitely scouted some impressive, steep and very first possible descents, but these were almost always bordered by horrendous seracs and generally very crevassed terrain.
From Thorong Pass, the trail goes downward to Manang. From here, I recommend a side trip up towards Tilicho Lake or the highest lake in the world at 4900m or 17,000ft. En route one will pass through the Annapurna Base Camp on this side of the range. The advanced skier/mountaineers will see what I mean as to what exactly is available to rip, through your binoculars at this point. ("Rip" can also apply to avalanches here so study a face well before coming to any hasty conclusions). Around the lake, there are several impressive peaks. I would recommend being very weary of the slopes facing the lake as they are riddled with nasty icefalls. Towering above is Tilicho Peak, accessible by a ridge from the far end of the lake.
Around Manang itself, there were several impressive mountains which we hungrily eyed with turns in mind. Again these were fairly crevassed, but any seasoned ski mountaineer, would probably agree with me on possible descents in between the cracked ice.
From Manang, the traveler has the option of continuing downstream and back towards Pukhara and the nearest road with a bus on it. The other alternative is to backtrack to Jomson. Many people book return flights to Jomson and do the Annapurna routine via this fashion.
If you arrive in Nepal after mid September, then the monsoons should have subsided along with the infamous leeches on the trails. What we did was decided to fly into Lukla since we only had eleven days.
Our trip was makeshift for sure. Pawel and I had two snowboards, a pair of skis, some clothing and extra Dana Design Backpacks. Much of our necessities had stayed with that original expedition (but again, that's that other story). Having met two wonderful companions, Martin from England and Gulli, an Icelander, we had to equip them with virtually everything.
We decided that between the four of us and two sherpas, we could easily share the skiing equipment. Luckily our shoe sizes were close and an ample supply of Thorlo Socks were great for compensating the rest. We were also short on certain gear necessities to make our trip work out. Katmandu, to our pleasant surprise, could fulfill all of our camping needs. All one has to do is walk around the old part of town, called Old Thamel and ask about renting whatever may be needed on your trip. For items such as tents, stoves, pads and Gore-Tex clothing, I would recommend renting these in the capital. Prices can be amazingly cheap. A good sleeping bag went for a dollar fifty a day. I might also add that there is a thriving local sleeping bag and accessory making industry in Katmandu. However, if you are traveling through Namche Bazaar, there is no sense in carrying all of your technical climbing hardware to that point. We found all of the needed items which some of our party was missing such as crampons, ice axes, ropes, ice screws in Namche itself. We even credited the trekking poles we were carrying towards the gear rental fees on the way back. You can barter on just about anything in Nepal. Just make sure you are a true dirtbag and whatever you do, shop around and never pay the first price. This way you keep the economy going at fair play without spoiling the goods for future freaks on similar missions.
If you do choose to save the extra five days of trekking and fly into Lukla, it's certainly a trip in itself. The most commonly used Canadian-made Dash 7 Planes land uphill on a slant on a short gravel runway. The uphill tilt compensates for the shortness of the runway. Taking off is all downhill so there is simply less time to be scared anyway.
From Lukla, count on two days of good-paced trekking, one being in Namche Bazar. Our route took us up towards Gokyo. Looking over maps, we figured there would be more skier friendly glaciers accessible in that direction rather then the Everest Base Camp Area. Within three days and some memorable nights, we were standing at Gokyo at 4750m or 16,000ft. From here our planned route was towards Everest Base Camp over the 5200m high Chala Pass. Pawel and I had already been well-acclimatized from our reconnaissance trek in the Annapurnas. Guli and Martin were not. From day one I warned Martin to slow down his pace. The best advice I ever received when trekking at altitude was to always be able to carry on a conversation while walking. "That way," one seasoned mentor told me, "You never get out of breath and develop a pace which your body can handle."
Sure enough, in reaching Gokyo, Martin was sick. We actually had him return down to a lower village to sleep for the night. Now having an extra day, we pondered at something nearby to ski and snowboard. Off in the opposite direction of Chola Pass, we spotted a mellow looking glacier. We did some location scouting the eve before and set out for our goal the following day. Within a three-hour hike, we were strapping on our Mountain Noodle Skis and Nitro Splitboard to our feet. The snow was wet, summer-like, due to the lately passed monsoons. It did not matter though. We were doing it! Actually shredding Nepal's Himalayas! The journey had culminated into our dreams. It was, however, awkward and hard work at this altitude. I estimated we had to be somewhere around 18,000ft in elevation. The glacier was perfect with only slightly crevassed areas near the uppermost sections, where it met with the snow faces reaching for the higher peaks above. It was a perfect trial run.
After playing hard all day, we returned to Gokyo finding that Martin had returned feeling much better. The next day we packed up and headed towards Chola Pass.
On the way to Chola Pass we discovered a wealth of skiable terrain. We were still a bit early, it being only the first week of September, so it was cat and mouse with the weather. The mornings were usually clear but by afternoon, clouds and sometimes rain would hamper any prolonged ski and snowboard excursions. That was alright, however, as we were on an exploratory mission. Real seasoned mountaineers should always do pre-dawn alpine style starts, but for us, it was just a pleasure being there and getting in the turns when we did. I might also add that our porters were doing some amazing feats themselves. It was here too that Gulli got sick. We found him wandering in the meadows one day, hallucinating and babbling with sure signs of Cerebral Edema. He felt bad one morning as we advised him to start down early by himself. We had gone skiing again that day and were lucky to run into him on the way back to camp. Pawel accompanied him to a lower village and sent him back to Namche and a safer altitude with a local shepherd.
Despite our warnings and insistence, our two young 19 year-old sherpas, Dandi and Kaila had refused to bring adequate clothing or camping gear for themselves. Therefore, each night, our friends would help us set up camp, then scurry down and sleep in the nearest village several hours away. In the morning they would be back with us usually making tea by 7a.m. At first, we felt bad, but we soon found these guys were perfectly happy running around, up and down these valleys without heavy loads, which they had left at our respective campsites.
They each had been carrying at least eighty pounds apiece while we struggled to keep up with our lighter forty-pound loads. And so, we followed this routine all the way over Chola Pass where we camped and skied our most impressive glacier, reaching elevations of 5800m or nearly 19,000ft.
In a nutshell, folks, that was our trip of eleven days in total. Again, I stress, do not attempt it without at least ten days of acclimatization somewhere high, and longer if you can. From Chola Pass we were down in Namche within two short days, returning our rented ice climbing gear. Another day and we were praying for our lives again as the plane took off barreling downhill from that crooked Lukla airstrip on the flight back to Katmandu.
Here we rejoined our friends to share happy tales at the Melrose Place Bar and soon began organizing Katmandu's first ever techno-rave party. It was also here where we met Diana, the Russian Shaman lady who had all of us disbelievers walk on sharp broken glass. But hey, that's another story too, so I'll try sticking to the skiing with this one.
A few good contacts and hints for your next visit:
Getting there: most major airlines fly direct into Katmandu. Bangkok is a popular stop over point with many carriers. Also, many travelers come from India via New Delhi.
Everest Trekking: for all of your trekking or expedition needs should you want assistance:
GPO Box 1676. Kamaladi, Katmandu, Nepal
tel.22 63 58 e-mail
ettashi@mos.com.np
Healing, Spirituality, Shamanism: Diana & Marc Coffer
mcoffer@cumulanet.com
Easylink-- for the best deals on Internet surfing and e-mail communication:
easylink@elc.wlink.com.np
5273 Thamel, Katmandu
tel. 977-1-425933
The best hotel: Peninsula Hotel in Katmandu for best prices and most interesting freaks. Just ask for it in Old Thamel. It's across from Melrose Place. We hosted Katmandu's first ever rave here and the owner is the actual mayor of the town.
Guidebooks and maps: available in shops or with street vendors. There are many, so just get the most popular ones. Both the Annapurna region, as well as the Khumbu, are well described as far as distances between guesthouses en route.
Food: Nepalese food is not the greatest, so count on lots of rice, potatoes and noodle soups. Most guesthouses have lots of these basic foods. Local potatoes are great, by the way, and can provide a freak with most of his/her needed vitamins and minerals. You are better off if you are vegetarian because meat is sparse and rather tough when you do find it. Bring your own extras such as spices to liven things up. Also bring a water filter. Water is fine if you get up high above humans and livestock but otherwise beware and drink with care.
Last but not least, the Weather: both in the Annapurnas and the Khumbu temperatures are very mild, seldom going more than -5 degrees Celsius between late July and mid September. Temperatures drop lower during the best trekking periods of October through November. Sunny days bring more warmth up into the 70's Farenheit. The snows come between December and late February. During these months, I would recommend traveling using skins on the upper trails. You may tell me I'm off my rocker but you could easily train sherpas to use tele-gear on the long, gentler stretches of trekking routes. Viewing the many grassy hills, I could see some great potential for skiing anywhere above treeline if the snow is there. Glaciers, if not properly covered during the winter months, could prove to be very dangerous as small deceptive layers of snow cover crevasse fields. We were actually approached by several trekking firms eager to test the waters for doing regular organized ski/snowboard trips. (hmmm, become a snowboard guide - could always be an option if life does not work out in the wild west). |
